Head above the rest

A 27-year quest to serve the perfect pint gave Blakey's bar in Newcastle-under-Lyme the winning edge in the Stella Artois Quality Award 2004.

DIZZANA ROSSI talks to the man behind its success, Martin Blakeman

Fierce competition from around 30 rival neighbouring bars has put quality firmly at the top of the agenda for Blakey's bar in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffs.

But the owner of the freehouse, Martin Blakeman, prides himself on his ability to set his business apart and attract a greater share of the estimated 25,000 drinkers who flock to the town every Friday night.

"We are one of the most expensive bars around here," he says. "There's no-one else I know selling a half pint of Stella Artois at £2."

Blakey's can get away with offering beer at a higher price than most for the same reason it won this year's Stella Artois Quality Award: it simply offers customers a standard of quality that they can't find anywhere else.

The award, run by Interbrew UK and the British Institute of Inn-keeping (BII), challenges pubs and bars to deliver "the perfect serve" of Stella Artois ­ in a clean, branded glass at a temperature of 6°C and with a 10mm head.

Peppi Cremona, director of on-trade marketing at Interbrew UK, who awarded the trophy and £3,000 prize to Blakeman, says: "One of the key things for us was the fact that Blakey's obviously sees the value in maintaining the quality of its Stella Artois and considers this to be more important than the short-term opportunity of driving volume."

Blakeman's preoccupation with quality is evident from his decision to sell beer in only halves or two-pint pitchers, ensuring customers a Continental-style drinking experience. "The reason for not offering pints is because that's what everyone else is doing," Blakeman explains. "I wanted to keep Blakey's apart from the other bars opening up around us, which are all five, six or seven hundred-capacity venues, open until late."

The 180-capacity venue provides a stark contrast to its competitors, opening as early as 10am from Monday to Friday to cater for breakfast and closing during the afternoon before the evening. It is now extending its offering to include food in the bar at night, with the intention of maintaining the desirable clientele it boasts as regulars.

"We know the food is not the cheapest," he says. "But the pasta and pizza chef we have in to do it is one of the best around."

Training staff to a high standard is another point of difference, where Blakeman and his bar manager, Mark Quinn, prefer to employ newcomers to the industry.

"When we take on youn-ger staff, around 18 or so, it's a long time before we will let them behind the bar," says Blakeman. "And when new members of staff don't make the effort to fit in with what we're doing here, it's not long before they're out."

Blakeman's tough line on training is obviously paying off, according to judges of the Stella Artois Quality Award. Mike Wroe, client development director at the BII, says: "From first entering the premises we were met with high standards. The person showing us round the cellar was very knowledgeable without being overbearing."

The judges also commend Blakey's on its extensive range of beers, which they say is extraordinary for a venue that originally set out in 1977 to be a wine bar.

Alistair Leaver, quality co-ordinator at Interbrew UK, says: "They stock Stella Artois, Hoegaarden, Leffe Blonde and Leffe Brune on draught, and around 20 bottled brands. From the shine on the beer fonts, to the quality in the glass, to the smiles on their faces, everything oozed quality."

Blakeman describes the judging process as "as fair as it possibly can be", highlighting the fact that none of the entrants are notified when the visits are scheduled to take place. "When we heard that we had got into the finals in the Midlands, the judges came round and checked the quality of everything in the bar," he says.

"We didn't know who would be coming or when they would be coming. As it happened, the two chaps arrived quite early on in the day, which took us all by surprise."

Although the process is daunting in this sense, Blakeman maintains that both Interbrew and the BII did their best to help entrants achieve best quality. "The support from them is first class," he says. "If Interbrew says it wants us selling Stella Artois in branded glasses they are there within the week to provide them." But the relationship works both ways, he insists, as Interbrew puts faith and support in its more trusted licensees.

It's easy to understand why Interbrew is putting its energy into driving "the perfect serve" of Stella Artois, which holds a £1bn total sales value in the UK on-trade. As Cremona puts it: "Interbrew gives a promise to the consumer of the quality of the Stella Artois brand. At the moment that it depends most on the fulfilment of this promise, the responsibility is handed over to the retailers to serve it properly. That's why this award is so important."

Blakey's owner and manager are both "happily surprised" at winning the award, which three other regional finalists were up for, including the Three Tuns, Sheffield, the Feather's Inn, Wadesmill, Hertfordshire and the Three Tuns, Bransgore, Dorset.

Blakeman adds: "I am sure that the other finalists were of the highest calibre and that everyone did very well. I don't know what tipped the scales in the end, it could have been any little thing, as small as the glass temperature."

In fact, Blakeman takes the temperature of his glasses very seriously and invests in the highest standard of chilling equipment to ensure they are kept in optimum condition.

"If any new equipment comes out we try and get a hold of it as soon as possible," he says. "We already have fridges for chilling glasses in place and we are looking at a new chilling machine coming onto the market now, which will enable us to take glasses from the washer and chill them on the back bar within four minutes."

Blakeman is planning to invest some of the £3,000 prize money in the new equipment, which costs around £500. The winnings will also fund improvements to the kitchen, following the recent addition of evening food to the bar's offering.

"Obviously I will sort my manager out with a share, for the work he has put in to help achieve Blakey's success," he says. "But I'm not planning a holiday just yet. For one, I need to wait and see if I have to pay tax on the money and two, there's too much still to be done here."

The attention to detail and daily grind will continue at Blakey's in the same way it always has since opening in 1977.

"We have always worked hard at maintaining our quality here, well before the awards," Blakeman says. "It's much easier for us not to resolve to do it, but we plug away and nag the staff about quality because what's the point in doing something if you're not going to do it right?"